3B Public Hearing 2011 0321 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF SAN LEANDRO APPROVED AND FORWARDED STAFF REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL Stephen L. Hollister DATE: March 21, 2011 City Manager TO: Stephen L. Hollister, City Manager FROM: Luke Sims, Community Development Director/e I3Y: Philip L. Millenbah, Senior Planner � SUBJECT PROJECT /PROJECT DESCRIPTION: MATTER OF RESOLUTION AMENDING THE SAN LEANDRO GENERAL PLAN IN ORDER TO ENSURE INTERNAL CONSISTENCY BETWEEN THE GENERAL PLAN (ADOPTED IN 2 002), THE DOWNTOWN TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT (TOD) STRATEGY (ADOPTED SEPTEMBER 2007) AND THE HOUSING ELEMENT (ADOPTED IN APRIL 2010) . SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the resolution that would amend the San Leandro General Plan to ensure internal consistency between the 2002 General Plan, the 2007 Downtown San Leandro Transit Oriented Development Strategy (TOD Strategy), and the 2010 Housing Element. The action involves text amendments to the 2002 General Plan document, the introduction of a new category to the General Plan Map, and the replacement of General Plan Chapter 9 (Executive Summary of the I- lousing Element) with an updated Chapter 9. This amendment does not substantively change the General Plan Map or the City's General Plan policies. Rather, it edits the General Plan to reflect two documents which have been adopted by the City in the last four years, both of which were previously evaluated through appropriate environmental review procedures and are already City policy. A CEQA Initial Study has been prepared for this Amendment, and a Negative Declaration has been proposed. BACKGROUND On May 6, 2002, the City of San Leandro adopted an updated General Plan as required by state law. The 2002 General Plan guides growth through 2015 and is organized into topical chapters (called "elements ") such as Land Use, Transportation, and Environmental Hazards. The California Government Code requires consistency between the General Plan and other locally adopted plans. including area plans and specific plans. On September 4, 2007, the City Council adopted a Transit Oriented Development Strategy (TOD Strategy) for an approximately 300 -acre area including the BART Station vicinity and Downtown San Leandro. The TOD Strategy included a land use plan which allowed more intense uses than the General Plan on many sites around the BART Station. The TOD Strategy also changed the proposed land uses on several vacant and underutilized sites near BART from office to mixed use (with an emphasis on housing). The 2002 General Plan was not formally